June 1, 2006

Baylor NCAA Baseball Houston Regional Preview
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GAME 60 • NCAA HOUSTON REGIONAL

BAYLOR (35-24) vs. No. 16 ARIZONA STATE (36-19)

JUNE 2 • RECKLING PARK • HOUSTON, TEXAS • 8:00 P.M. CDT

REGIONAL SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2

Game 1: #1 Rice vs. #4 Prairie View A&M, 4 p.m.

Game 2: #2 Arizona State vs. #3 BAYLOR, 8 p.m.

SATURDAY, JUNE 3

Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, Noon

Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 4 p.m.

SUNDAY, JUNE 4

Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 1 p.m.

Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 5 p.m.

MONDAY, JUNE 5 (if necessary)

Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 7 p.m.

TELEVISION BROADCAST

CSTV

Carter Blackburn, play-by-play

Kevin Stocker, color

BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK

ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM (Waco)

Tom Barfield, play-by-play

Lark Smith, color

INTERNET FEEDS

Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com

Audio: www.BaylorBears.com

Video: www.BaylorBears.com

HOUSTON REGIONAL AT A GLANCE

1 RICE OWLS

No. 1 Seed • 50-10 • 22-2 C-USA (1st)

HEAD COACH: Wayne Graham

Alma Mater: Texas, 1970

Career Record: 1,252-380 (26th season)

Record at TCU: 677-267 (15th season)

BAYLOR-RICE SERIES: Baylor leads 125-82-1

Waco: Baylor leads 71-30

Houston (at Rice): Rice leads 47-44-1

Neutral Site: Rice leads 3-1

Unknown Sites: Baylor leads 10-2

Smith vs. RICE: 12-16

First Meeting: 4/25/1919

Last Meeting: at Rice 7, Baylor 0 [5/11/2005]

16 ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS

No. 2 Seed • 36-19 • 14-10 PAC-10 (2nd)

ARIZONA STATE: Pat Murphy

Alma Mater: Florida Atlantic

Career Record: 797-356-2 [19th season]

Record at ASU: 475-240-1 [12th season]

BAYLOR-ASU SERIES: Arizona State leads 6-2

Waco: Arizona State leads 2-1

Tempe: Arizona State leads 4-1

Neutral Site: Never Met

Smith vs. ASU: 2-4

First Meeting: ASU 3, Baylor 1 [2/16/1978]

Last Meeting: Baylor 5, ASU 3 [2/26/2006]

BAYLOR BEARS

No. 3 Seed • 35-24 • 13-14 Big 12 (t-5th)

HEAD COACH: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 452-282-1 (12th season)

Record at Baylor: 452-282-1 (12th season)

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M PANTHERS

No. 4 Seed • 33-20 • 17-7 SWAC (1st)

HEAD COACH: Michael Robertson

Alma Mater: Houston-Tillotson, 1989

Career Record: 104-117 (4th season)

Record at PVAM: 104-117 (4th season)

Overall Record: Baylor leads 2-0

Waco: Baylor leads 2-0

Prairie View: Never Met

Neutral Site: Never Met

Smith vs. PVAM: 2-0

First Meeting: at Baylor 4, PVAM 3 [4/20/2005]

Last Meeting: at Baylor 14, PVAM 2 [5/10/2006]

Baylor continues postseason play this weekend at the NCAA Houston Regional, hosted by national No. 2 seed Rice at Reckling Park. The Bears, seeded third at the Houston Regional, face second-seeded Arizona State in Friday's first round. First pitch between Baylor and Arizona State is scheduled for 8 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised live nationally by CSTV. Baylor is one of a conference-record seven teams from the Big 12 Conference in the NCAA Tournament field.

Rice faces fourth-seeded Prairie View A&M at 4 p.m. in the other first-round game. The Bears have faced all three other Houston Regional participants this season.

Baylor (35-24) is 5-5 over its last 10 games. The Bears finished third in Division 1 pool play at last week's Big 12 Conference Tournament, going 1-2 with losses to Nebraska and Texas and a victory over Texas Tech. The Bears are 8-17 away from Baylor Ballpark this season, including a 1-2 mark in neutral-site games. Baylor is unranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25.

Arizona State (36-19) is 7-3 over its last 10 games after sweeping a three-game Pac-10 Conference series against California at home last weekend. Arizona State is ranked 16th in this week's Baseball America Top 25.

All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio. Live streaming audio and GameTracker also are available for all Baylor baseball games online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the CSTV Network.

QUICK HITS ...

• Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is:

- 115-42 (.732) when its starting pitcher lasts at least 5.0 innings

- 27-7 (.794) when its pitching staff records at least 10 strikeouts

- 109-31 (.779) when scoring first

- 126-25 (.834) when out-hitting its opponent

- 117-32 (.785) when holding its opponent to fewer than five runs

- 107-22 (.829) when scoring at least six runs

- 96-15 (.865) when scoring at least seven runs

• Baylor has won 19 of its last 20 games when hitting at least two home runs, including six of seven this season.

• Since the start of the 2002 season, Baylor is 152-7 (.956) when leading after eight innings. The April 11 loss to Rice ended a 34-game winning streak in such games and was Baylor's first loss when leading after eight innings at home since Feb. 4, 2003.

• Baylor has used the same lineup in consecutive games only seven times and in three straight games only once.

• Baylor has 32 triples this season, tied for fourth in school history and the most by a Baylor team since the 2002 squad had 34 three-baggers in 62 games.

• Four Bears have at least five triples this season, the first time a Baylor team has accomplished that feat since the 1986 team also featured four players with at least five triples.

• LF Seth Fortenberry (10) and CF Kevin Sevigny (6) give Baylor two players with at least six triples, the first time that has happened at Baylor since Jon Topolski and Scott Morrison each had six triples in 1996.

• RHP Nick Cassavechia has converted five consecutive save opportunities.

• Opposing batters are 2-for-25 (.080) in first at bats against Cassavechia.

• C Zach Dillon has reached safely in 54 of 59 games this season and in 115 of 126 since the start of the 2005 season.

• Fortenberry is tied for second nationally with 10 triples, one of only four players nationally to reach double figures this season. Fortenberry's total is tied for the second-best single-season total in school history and one shy of Topolski's 1998 school record.

• Fortenberry has reached safely in 53 of 59 games this season and has hit safely in 33 of the last 40 games.

• Fortenberry leads Baylor with 12 bunt singles this season; the rest of the team has seven and no one has more than two.

• CF Chase Gerdes has hit safely in 22 of his last 26 games and has not gone hitless in consecutive games during that span.

• Gerdes has hit safely in 19 of his last 20 starts.

• RHP Randall Linebaugh has won the first seven decisions of his career, the longest winning streak to start a Baylor career since Abe Woody's school-record 11-game run over the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

• Baylor is 10-2 in Linebaugh's 12 starts this season.

• RHP Tim Matthews has won three consecutive decisions, all since moving to the bullpen in mid-April.

• Matthews has stranded all eight inherited runners this season.

• Opponents are 0-for-7 (.000) in first at bats against Matthews.

• 3B Kevin Russo has started all 129 games of his Baylor career.

• Russo has reached safely or produced an RBI in 29 straight games.

• The left side of Baylor's infield committed four errors in Big 12 play this season, Russo three and SS Beamer Weems one.

• Sevigny has hit safely in 21 of his last 30 games with 14 multiple-hit games during that time.

• Sevigny has 13 outfield assists over the last two seasons.

• Weems has reached safely in 51 of 58 games this season.

• Weems has not made a fielding error since the season's second game and committed just one error in 109 chances during Big 12 play.

• RHP Jake Weghorst has not allowed a run in his last 14 relief outings (18.2 innings).

• Opponents are 2-for-19 (.105) in first at bats against Weghorst.

BAYLOR NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY

Baylor makes its 13th NCAA Regional appearance this weekend, the program's eighth regional in the past nine seasons and the most by any program in the Big 12 Conference since the league's inception in 1997. The Bears are 30-26 all-time in NCAA postseason play, going 24-15 all-time in regional play, 4-5 in Super Regional play and 2-6 at the College World Series.

This marks the second time Baylor has traveled to Houston, Texas, for a regional hosted by Rice at Reckling Park. The Bears reached the regional championship round in 2001, falling to the host Owls. In that regional, Baylor defeated Houston 7-1 in the first round. Round two featured one of the greatest comebacks in Baylor history as the Bears erased a 9-0 Rice lead entering the eighth inning with a five-run eighth and a six-run ninth. Baylor then held off a furious Rice rally in the bottom of the ninth for a 11-10 victory in which Jay Lockett earned the victory. However, Rice defeated Houston and then topped the Bears 7-4 and 5-4 in the championship round to advance to the super regional round.

This is Baylor's ninth regional played within the Lone Star state. Along with the 2001 Houston Regional, Baylor hosted regionals in 1999, 2000 and last season. The Bears also played at the 2002 Austin Regional and at the 1978 and 1979 South Central regionals at Arlington, Texas.

Baylor has won six consecutive regional games after sweeping the 2003 Hattiesburg Regional hosted by Southern Mississippi and last year's Waco Regional at Baylor Ballpark.

BAYLOR ALL-TIME vs. HOUSTON REGIONAL FIELD

RICE OWLS

Baylor and Rice have met 208 times on the baseball diamond, making this the fourth most-played series in Baylor baseball history behind only Texas (322), Texas A&M (255) and TCU (231). Baylor holds a 125-82-1 advantage the all-time series, which dates back to April 25, 1919. The Owls hold a slim 47-44-1 advantage in the series in games played on the Rice campus.

BAYLOR vs. THE CONFERENCE USA

Baylor is 218-146-1 all-time against teams currently playing in Conference USA, including a 37-33 mark under head coach Steve Smith. The majority of those 365 games have been against former Southwest Conference rivals Rice (208) and Houston (142). Baylor's last postseason game against a current C-USA member was last June's dramatic 8-7 come-from-behind victory over Tulane at the College World Series.

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS

Baylor and Arizona State meet for the ninth time Friday; six of the previous eight meetings have come since the beginning of the 2005 season. The Sun Devils hold a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series. Each of the first five meetings was at Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State visited Baylor Ballpark the final weekend of February this season and took two of three, winning both ends of a Saturday doubleheader (9-5, 11-3) before Baylor salvaged a 5-3 victory in Sunday's series finale.

The teams first met in Feb. 16, 1978, in a doubleheader to open the Bears season. The Sun Devils won both games (3-1, 5-1). Intestingly, in each of the two prior seasons in which Baylor played Arizona State during the regular season, the Bears reached the College World Series.

Baylor and ASU did not meet again until last season when the Sun Devils took two of three games at Packard Stadium. Arizona State won the first two games by scores of 5-3 and 12-4. The Sun Devils led Sunday's finale 5-0 only to see Baylor rally for an 8-7 victory in 10 innings.

BAYLOR vs. THE PAC-10 CONFERENCE

Baylor is 15-15 all-time against Pac-10 opponents, 13-10 under head coach Steve Smith. The Bears had never faced a Pac-10 team other than Arizona State or Washington State (twice each) in regular-season play prior to Smith's tenure. Under Smith, Baylor has played at least one weekend series against a Pac-10 team in each of the past five seasons.

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M PANTHERS

Baylor and Prairie View A&M have met just twice in baseball action, both coming since the start of the 2005 season and both as schedule additions. The Bears defeated the Panthers 4-3 last season and 14-2 three weeks ago. Both previous meetings were at Baylor Ballpark.

BAYLOR vs. THE SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Baylor is 8-0 all-time against teams currently playing in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Along with a 2-0 mark against Prairie View A&M, the Bears are 5-0 against Texas Southern and 1-0 against Southern. Baylor defeated TSU in a schedule addition game in 2004, twice in scheduled meetings last season and twice more this year. The Bears defeated Southern 10-3 in the second round of the 2003 NCAA Hattiesburg Regional.

BAYLOR vs. 2006 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD

Baylor posted a 17-15 record this season against teams participating in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Of note, Baylor was 17-14 in the regular season against the 2005 NCAA Tournament field last season. The Bears were 3-6 against national top-eight seeds, posting an 0-1 mark against second-seeded Rice, an 0-4 mark against third-seeded Texas and a 3-1 mark against sixth-seeded Nebraska. Against the 16 No. 1 seeds, Baylor posted a 7-8 record, going 3-0 against Oklahoma State and 1-2 against Oklahoma along with games against Rice, Texas and Nebraska.

From March 11 through March 26, Baylor played nine games in a 10-game stretch against would-be NCAA regional participants; the Bears were 5-4 in those games. Baylor played eight consecutive games against would-be NCAA regional participants from April 4 through April 15; the Bears were 3-5 in that stretch with four losses by two runs or less. Again, the Bears played eight games in a nine-game span against would-be NCAA regional participants from April 26 through May 14; the Bears were 6-2 in those games.

Those three stretches were part of a 38-game portion of Baylor's schedule with 23 games against would-be NCAA regional participants. Baylor was 22-16 in that time.

BAYLOR AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS

Baylor has posted an 8-10 record this season against nationally ranked opponents, including a 3-5 mark against teams ranked in the top 10 and a 3-1 mark against teams ranked in the top five.

The 2005 Bears established a school record with 18 wins against ranked teams and nine wins against teams ranked in the top 10, marks previously held by the 2003 team that went 14-16 against ranked teams and 8-10 against top-10 opponents.

DILLON NAMED FIRST-TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA

C Zach Dillon was named first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Tuesday. Dillon is the fifth student-athlete in Baylor baseball history to earn first-team honors and the first Baylor catcher so honored.

Dillon, who graduated from Baylor in December 2005, was the lone graduate student on the first team. He currently is pursuing his Master of Science degree in sport management. A two-time first-team all-district selection, Dillon became eligible for Academic All-America honors by earning first-team all-district honors.

A product of Dowling High School in Urbandale, Iowa, Dillon finished the regular season as the top hitter in the Big 12 Conference with a .396 batting average. His .421 mark in Big 12 play led the conference and was the highest average by a Baylor player in Big 12 history.

Dillon also leads the Big 12 conference in walks with 51, a total that ranks as the second-best single-season mark in Baylor history and only four shy of Jon Topolski's 1999 school record. His 57 free passes and 129 times reached base safely, and his .504 on base percentage also lead the Big 12.

A 2006 Johnny Bench Award semifinalist, Dillon joins P Pat Combs (1988), 1B Charlie Carter (1998), P/DH Jason Jennings (1999) and 1B Ross Bennett (2003) as the only first-team Academic All-America honorees in Baylor history. Jennings also was a third-team selection in 1998, while Topolski earned second-team honors in 1998 and 1999.

BAYLOR ON TELEVISION

The Bears are 24-23 all-time in televised games, including a 2-2 mark this season. Baylor has posted two wins against Texas Tech and two losses to Texas.

Baylor is 2-2 all-time in games televised by CSTV. The Bears were 0-2 this season on CSTV, losing the final two games of the Texas series. Last season, Baylor defeated Texas in the series finale and won the Saturday game of the series at Nebraska, both on CSTV.

The Bears are 20-17 in televised games under head coach Steve Smith. The 2005 Bears established a school record with 12 televised games, 39 percent of the program's all-time televised games prior to the 2005 season.

AS FORTENBERRY GOES, SO GO THE BEARS

LF Seth Fortenberry has posted a .393 average (48-for-122) this season in Baylor's 35 wins. Conversely, he has posted a .233 average (21-for-90) in Baylor's 24 losses.

Fortenberry is not alone in this trend; the same can be seen for several batters, including 3B Kevin Russo (.352 in wins; .183 in losses) and SS Beamer Weems (.331 in wins; .238 in losses).

On the flip side, C Zach Dillon (.366), CF Chase Gerdes (.318) and DH/C Matt Sodolak (.300) are the only Baylor players with at least 100 total at bats to hit .300 or better in Baylor's losses.

DILLON CARRIES THE WEIGHT IN CLOSE GAMES

Baylor is 12-14 this season in games decided by two runs or less, including a 5-10 mark in such Big 12 games. C Zach Dillon (.392) and DH/C Matt Sodolak (.327) are the only Baylor players hitting above .300 in games decided by two runs or less. SS Beamer Weems (.298) is the next best hitter. Baylor hits .270 with two outs in such games, bolstered heavily by Dillon's .424 mark (28-for-66). The rest of the team hits just .252 (144-for-571) with two outs in games decided by two runs or less.

In Baylor's 10 losses by two runs or less in Big 12 play, the Bears posted a .266 batting average. Dillon led the way, going 20-for-40 (.500) in those games, while CF Chase Gerdes hit .385 (10-for-26) and RF Kevin Sevigny hit .341 (14-for-41). The rest of the team hit .202 (50-for-247).

What cost Baylor most in those 10 losses was the team's .147 (16-for-109) average with runners in scoring position. Even Dillon struggled with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-14 (.143). However, Dillon advanced a runner 11 times in his 12 outs. The Bears produced just five two-out RBI in those 10 losses, while their opponents produced 28.

LEFT SIDE OF INFIELD FLASHES SOLID LEATHER

3B Kevin Russo and SS Beamer Weems have solidified Baylor's infield defense this season. Russo has committed just six errors at third base, while Weems has committed just eight errors at shortstop. The two combined for only four errors in Big 12 play -- Russo committed three, while Weems committed only one. Two of Russo's errors and Weems' lone error in conference play came in the Texas Tech series (March 31-April 2). Russo did not commit his third error in league play until May 19 at Kansas State.

Weems has not committed a fielding error since the second game of the season. Only two of his seven throwing errors have come on direct field-and-throw plays to first base. Two came on throws to first base on attempted double plays. Two came on attempts to get a runner at home that allowed another runner to advance a base. The other throwing error came when he cut down an infield single up the middle, spun and threw wild in an attempt to get the batter/runner at first base.

BAYLOR RECLAIMS STAKE AS BIG 12 ALL-TIME LEADER

With its three-game sweep of fifth-ranked Nebraska in mid-May and Texas idle that weekend, Baylor reclaimed the top spot in the Big 12 Conference's all-time standings. Both teams were swept in the season's final weekend. At 169-105 (.618), the Bears are just ahead of second-place Texas (170-107, .614). Nebraska is a distant third at 157-114 (.579).

Baylor was out of the top spot in the league standings for one week, the only week since the week of March 10-16, 2003 -- the first weekend of Big 12 play that season -- the Bears were not the league's all-time winningest program. Baylor trailed Texas Tech entering that weekend, took two of three from the Red Raiders at Baylor Ballpark, passed Tech by percentage points in the standings and had been the conference's winningest program ever since until the Bears' open week May 4-6.

Since the league's inception in 1997, Baylor leads all Big 12 schools in first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (49), NCAA appearances (eight) and Major League Baseball draft selections (51).

Baylor joins Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as the only programs to have qualified for every Big 12 Tournament.

BEARS HOPE TO REVERSE ROAD TREND

Baylor posted 27 wins at Baylor Ballpark this season, establishing a facility record for regular-season victories. The 2006 Bears are markedly more successful at home, posting a 27-7 mark at Baylor Ballpark and an 8-17 record in games away from Baylor Ballpark. The Bears were 10-2 in Big 12 play at home but just 3-12 in road games.

DILLON NAMED SEMIFINALIST FOR BENCH AWARD

C Zach Dillon was named a semifinalist for the 2006 Coleman Johnny Bench Award, the Greater Wichita [Kan.] Area Sports Commission announced in early May. Dillon was the only catcher from the Big 12 Conference selected to 10-man list.

Dillon is the third Baylor catcher to reach semifinalist status for the Bench Award. Josh Ford was a semifinalist in 2003, and Kelly Shoppach won the inaugural Bench Award in 2001.

Other catchers named semifinalists were J.P. Arencibia of Tennessee, Ryan Bono of Central Florida, Jeff Kunkel of Michigan, Matt McBride of Lehigh, Michael McKenry of Middle Tennessee State, Jordan Newton of Western Kentucky, Eddy Rodriguez of Miami, Fla., Jake Smith of East Carolina and Chad Tracy of Pepperdine. The list will be pared to three finalists June 1 with the winner named June 28 at the Ninth-Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet.

BAYLOR TOUGH WITH LEAD IN NINTH

Baylor's April 11 loss to Rice snapped a streak of 34 consecutive wins for Baylor when leading after eight innings. It was the first such loss for the Bears at home since Feb. 4, 2003, against Texas State. Baylor is 152-7 when leading after eight innings since the beginning of the 2002 season.

Baylor has not lost when leading by more than one run after eight since the 2003 game against Texas State when the Bobcats scored seven runs in the ninth to overcome a 5-2 Baylor lead.

LaMOTTA CLIMBS STRIKEOUTS LIST

RHP Ryan LaMotta enters the NCAA Houston Regional seventh on Baylor's career strikeouts list. He needs two strikeouts to match Trey Taylor for sixth all-time at Baylor. LaMotta currently has 251 career strikeouts in 308.1 innings pitched.

1. Jason Jennings - 377

2. Steven White - 320

3. Kris Lambert - 292

4. Kip Wells - 288

5. Josh Scott - 285

6. Trey Taylor - 253

7. Ryan LaMotta - 241

8. Justin Taylor - 229

9. Glenn Nevill - 225

10. Zane Carlson - 225

TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE

Baylor has 32 triples through 59 games this season, tied for fourth in school history. The Bears had only 21 three-baggers in 70 games last season. LF Seth Fortenberry leads the Big 12 Conference and is tied for second nationally with 10 triples, more than twice his career total entering the 2006 season (four) and tied for second all-time at Baylor.

SIX BEARS EARN ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 CONFERENCE HONORS

Six Baylor baseball student-athletes earned Academic All-Big 12 Conference honors this season. C Zach Dillon, RHP/1B Jeff Mandel, RHP Andy Pape and 3B Kevin Russo earned first-team honors, while RHP Ryan LaMotta and DH Mike Pankratz were second-team selections.

With this year's four first-team selections, Baylor baseball student-athletes have received 49 first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors in the league's 10-year existence. That total leads the conference, ahead of Nebraska (42) and Oklahoma State (37).

Dillon becomes the first Baylor baseball student-athlete to earn first-team honors four times. He joins Eric Nelson (1997-99), Jon Topolski (1997-99), Preston Underdown (1998-2000), Ross Bennett (2000, 2002-03) and Tim Hartshorn (2000-02) as the only Baylor players so honored more than twice.

LaMotta was a second-team honoree each of the past two seasons, while Pape earned first-team honors in 2004. Mandel earned second-team honors last season. Russo and Pankratz both are first-time academic all-conference honorees.

Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and media relations offices, the baseball academic all-league squad consisted of 29 first team members combined with 18 on the second team. First team members include those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

To qualify student-athletes must record a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters. All players nominated must have participated in 60 percent of his team's scheduled contests, while pitchers are required to have at least one inning pitched per game played by the team or have appeared in 35 percent of their team's total games. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

DILLON, MANDEL NAMED CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT VI

C Zach Dillon and RHP/1B Jeff Mandel were named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI teams, announced recently by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Dillon was named first team, while Mandel earned second-team honors.

At least one Baylor baseball student-athlete has earned academic all-district honors every year since 1998. In that time, 13 Bears have been so honored 19 times. This is Dillon's second consecutive season to earn all-district honors, while Mandel is honored for the first time.

A fifth-year senior catcher from Urbandale, Iowa, Dillon completed undergraduate studies at Baylor in December, 2005, and recently completed his first semester of graduate school in pursuit of Master of Science degree in sport management. Mandel, a junior pitcher and first baseman from Houston, Texas, currently is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.

Dillon joins former Bears Ross Bennett (2002, 2003), Michael Griffin (2003, 2004, 2005), Jason Jennings (1998, 1999) and Jon Topolski (1998, 1999) as the only Baylor baseball student-athletes to earn academic all-district honors multiple times.

In order to be eligible for academic all-district honors, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a 4.00 scale and participate in at least 50 percent of his team's games. Freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible. Those selected all-district are automatically nominated for Academic All-America honors.

FANS PACK BAYLOR BALLPARK

Baylor has drawn a total of 96,427 fans at home games this season, second in school history and a regular-season record. Baylor averages 3,013 fans per game this season, just off last season's average (3,045) that was bolstered by a 3,886 average during six postseason dates (2,875 during the regular season). The Baylor record for average attendance is 3,057 from the 2003 season.

This season has seen several impressive attendance marks:

• The April 11 game against Rice drew a crowd of 3,443, the second-largest midweek crowd in school history.

• The April 13 game against Texas drew a crowd of 5,313, second all-time at Baylor.

• The April 22 game against Texas A&M drw a crowd of 5,173, third all-time at Baylor.

• The April 7-9 series against Oklahoma State drew a total crowd of 10,516, the fourth-largest three-date series attendance in school history and the second-largest in a regular-season series. It also was the first regular-season three-date series in school history to draw crowds of at least 3,300 for all three dates.

• The April 22-23 series against Texas A&M drew a total crowd of 9,085, the largest two-date series attendance in school history. It also marked the first time since Baylor and Texas A&M began the split series format in 1993 that the attendance at both games in Waco (5,173 and 3,912) were larger than the attendance for the game at College Station (3,845).

BAYLOR STRONG IN LATEST APR REPORT

Baylor's baseball team scored a 961 in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR), released earlier this season by the NCAA. That score was the best among the eight Big 12 schools whose scores were released; scores for Kansas and Texas A&M have not yet been released. Baylor was the only Big 12 baseball team that scored above the national male student-athlete average (943). The Bears joined Missouri as the only Big 12 baseball teams to score above the national baseball average (931).

961 - BAYLOR

941 - Missouri

924 - Nebraska

906 - Oklahoma

903 - Kansas State

888 - Texas

812 - Oklaohma State

778 - Texas Tech

n/a - Kansas

n/a - Texas A&M

BAYLORBEARS.COM

Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the CSTV Network, which currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including four Big 12 schools.

BAYLOR/ISP SPORTS NETWORK

Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2006 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, 1660 ESPN Radio.

Popular on-air personality Tom Barfield enters his fourth season as the primary play-by-play man for Baylor baseball. Barfield, the operations manager for KRZI/KRZX and KLRK-FM in Waco, is best known as co-host of the afternoon "You Make the Call" call-in show. Barfield also serves as host for the "Countdown to Kickoff" and "The Baylor Fifth Quarter Show" during football season. He has previously served as the radio voice for Tarleton State, McLennan Community College, Mary Hardin-Baylor and several high schools across the state.

Barfield is joined by Lark Smith in the booth. Smith, whose attachment to Baylor baseball dates back to the days of coach Dutch Schroeder, was sports director for the Baylor campus radio station in the late 1970s and served as play-by-play voice for the Bears' 1977 and 1978 College World Series teams. After nearly two decades in broadcasting, Smith now works for the Heart O' Texas Federal Credit Union in Waco.

Live audio for all Baylor baseball games also are available online at www.BaylorBears.com.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW

Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.

HEAD COACH Steve Smith

Steve Smith is in his 12th season as head coach of Baylor's baseball program in 2006. In his first 11 years, Smith guided the program to unprecedented heights, including the most successful eight-year run in the program's 100-year history and a College World Series appearance in 2005.

Smith has compiled a 452-282-1 career record, all at Baylor. He holds the best winning percentage (.616) of any coach in Baylor baseball history, and he ranks second among the program's 18 head coaches in career victories. Smith has led Baylor to eight NCAA Regional appearances, three NCAA Super Regional appearances, one College World Series appearance and two Big 12 Conference titles. He also has coached 12 All-America selections and seven USA Baseball National Team members while at Baylor.

The 2005 USA Baseball National Team head coach, Smith came to Baylor from Mississippi State, where he was an assistant under Ron Polk for five seasons. Prior to that, he served as a graduate assistant for Mark Johnson at Texas A&M from 1987 to 1989.

A former standout pitcher at Baylor in 1982-1983, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA as a junior. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1983 Major League draft by the San Francisco Giants and played four years of pro ball before moving into the coaching ranks.

Smith has tutored seven pitchers in the last 13 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He also has coached at least one all-conference pitcher in each of the last 13 years.

BAYLOR: BIG 12'S MOST TENURED STAFF

With 38 years of combined service at Baylor, the Bears' on-field staff is the Big 12 Conference's most tenured. Head coach Steve Smith joins Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson as the league's second-most tenured head coaches, both in their 12th season in 2006 and trailing only Texas Tech's Larry Hays (20th season).

Assistant coach Mitch Thompson (12th year) joined the Baylor staff in Smith's first season, while assistant coach Steve Johnigan (11th year) joined the following season. Volunteer assistant coach Chris Berry (7th year) joined the staff prior to the 2000 season and assumed pitching coach duties this season.

Thompson and Johnigan are the second- and third-most tenured assistant coaches in the Big 12 behind only Texas' Tommy Harmon (16 seasons). In fact, Harmon, Thompson, Johnigan and Missouri's Evan Pratte are the only assistant coaches with more tenure at their respective schools than Berry.

UP NEXT ...

The winner of the NCAA Houston Regional faces the winner of the NCAA Norman Regional, hosted by the University of Oklahoma at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Norman Regional features Oklahoma, Houston, Wichita State and TCU; Baylor faced all those teams save Wichita State in the regular season.